Nthambeleni Gabara
The government has set itself the target of procuring 75% of goods and services from South African producers as part of its drive to create a new class of black industrialists and entrepreneurs, says Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The government has set itself the target of procuring 75% of goods and services from South African producers as part of its drive to create a new class of black industrialists and entrepreneurs, says Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa.
This
target was ambitious but "eminently achievable," Ramaphosa said
during the gala dinner of the Black Business Council (BBC) in Johannesburg on
Thursday evening, adding: "We are quite literally building the
nation."
The
Deputy President said the government's drive for radical economic
transformation had to ensure "faster, inclusive growth, combined with much
higher levels of employment creation, reduced inequality and the
deracialisation of the economy".
Support
for local suppliers
A
critical part of this programme, he said, was the government's massive
strategic investment in infrastructure, which aimed to promote broad-based
black economic empowerment through support for local suppliers and contractors.
"A
lack of diversification and growth in the productive sectors of our economy has
in the main contributed towards the de-industrialisation of our economy over
the past 30 years.
"We
will need to focus on marketing and supply activities to enable small scale
producers to enter formal value chains and take advantage of economies of
scale."
Ramaphosa
said successful black entrepreneurs and industrialists would require broader
access to financial services to fund growth in existing and new sectors.
"We
can no longer ignore poor lending practices and excessive charges in some parts
of the financial sector, and the lack of more inclusive and accessible
financing opportunities.
"Through
our development finance institutions, we will provide increased access to
affordable lending that supports diversification of the economy, broad-based
black economic empowerment, and investment in smaller businesses in the
productive economy."
'Black
business must lead'
However,
radical economic transformation also needed partnerships, Ramaphosa said,
adding that black business had a key role to play in identifying where needs
existed and in developing proposals on how to address these needs.
"Black
business must lead. It must develop strategies, working with government, labour
and the rest of the business community, to train tens of thousands of
engineers, actuaries, accountants, teachers, doctors and project managers.
"Black
business must look at how emerging entrepreneurs can be financed, supported and
provided with market access. Our developmental state needs partners in the business
community who supports the vision of a racially integrated industrial
economy."
Ramaphosa
urged the council to join with the government in developing mechanisms that
supported meaningful transformation and greater equality in the workplace.
"Government
is prepared to do its part by fostering an environment for growth and
investment through the development of adequate infrastructure, provision of
services such as energy, and water, mobilisation of industrial financing,
consistency and certainty in regulation, removal of unnecessary burdens for
business and the improvement of our skills base."
He
said the country needed a dynamic and entrepreneurial class of black
industrialists. "We need people who will take a long-term perspective,
roll up their sleeves and drive the development of our productive capabilities
from the shop floor up.
"As
a nation, we are looking to black business in particular to take this country
forward. It needs to be an active agent in the implementation of the National
Development Plan. It needs to be a driver in its own right of radical
socio-economic change."
'This
will be a toyi-toyi of a special type'
Small
Business Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu, also speaking at the dinner, said
the time had come for black South Africans "to fight for what they should
have been enjoying for a very long time.
"This
will be a toyi-toyi of a special type, because the toyi-toyi that we've been
seeing of late is the reflection of the energy that is directed to burning
schools and libraries. Now, we need to turn that energy into a better energy
that is contributing to a better South Africa."
Zulu
said the government was fully aware of all the challenges faced by small
business in the country, and was ready to partner with small businesses to help
them benefit from the opportunities available.
At
the same time, South Africans needed to "ask what they can do for
themselves, to ensure that they contribute positively to their respective
communities".
With
the amount of government support available, she said, there was no reason for
small businesses in South Africa not to prosper.
"Small
business on the African continent operates under difficult circumstances. Many
of them don't have the institutions that South Africa has. Many of them do not
have the financial support that we have. But they are thriving."
